17-19JUL09 - Yakima & Kittitas, WA

As soon as we got on I-5 North, Dan realized that the engine was not running right. Basically the engine had no “oomph” and was only making sixty per cent of rated power. As long as we were on the flat part of the interstate we could maintain speed, but any little hill would cause us to slow down almost to a crawl. We were heading to visit Dan’s cousin Steve Kiesel and wife Bonnie in Kittitas, WA, and this meant going over White Pass on US 12. And even though we had no engine alarms, and the engine wasn’t overheating, we almost didn’t make it over the pass. And because of our constantly watching the gauges and computer monitor, we couldn't enjoy the great views of Mt Rainer & Mt St Helens. We decided to stay in Yakima, rather than pushing on to the Kiesel’s; and Dan made an appointment with the local Cummins Diesel dealer for first thing Monday morning.

The next day, Saturday, we headed to Bonnie and Steve’s in our Toad. (For more on Bonnie & Steve, see below BLOG internet link.) Halfway there Steve called Dan on the cell phone to tell him to check the air hoses to the Charge Air Cooler. Since we were halfway to their house, we couldn’t do this without turning around. We continued on and upon our arrival Steve jumped in the Toad, and Dan and he drove back to the RV in Yakima. Turns out the air hoses to the Charge Air Cooler were okay, but another 1-1/4 inch air hose had a very visible tear in it. A quick trip to NAPA to buy the closest equivalent hose (in this case a Honda Accord radiator hose), and the problem was solved!

http://theryanrvexpress.blogspot.com/2008/06/20-25jun08-kittitas-wa.html

After moving the RV to Bonnie & Steve’s, we accompanied Steve & Bonnie to a big party for the “Gold Buckle” donators who had contributed to the Ellensburg Rodeo. It was a great “rodeo” evening featuring a country & western fashion show, great BBQ, open bar, and excellent music by the band “Countryfied”. Dan was trying to discretely take a picture of the band, when they suddenly stopped playing and ran to the front of the stage to pose for Dan. Needless to say, Dan was embarrassed to suddenly be the center of attention.

The next day, Sunday, we all seemed to have many different, little, errands to take care of. But that evening Steve BBQ’d deer steaks, and even some oysters (real Puget Sound oysters, not Rocky Mountain oysters) and even grilled some fresh corn over a wood fire. Luckily Dan brought his shucking knife from Louisiana, so he was able to open and clean the remaining oysters for future use. Early Monday morning Steve took Dan into the surrounding mountains to scout out elk herds. Turns out Steve is a Master Hunter for Washington State, and he is THE point of contact for all hunters and any rancher having problems with elk destroying their crops. The upside of this is Steve has fresh elk meat every year; the downside is many, many, early morning reconnaissance missions. So after three hours bouncing around in a 67 Jeep Commander it was time to call it an end to a great weekend and head back to Monroe, WA.

http://wdfw.wa.gov/hunting/masterhunter/

14-16JUL09 - Woodland, WA (entering the digital TV age)

On Tuesday the 14th, we gave up our “jobs” as Camp Host and departed Monroe, WA, enroute Woodland, WA. We had an appointment starting on the 15th at Dave & LJs RV Interior to install our new flat screen high def TVs (Dave & LJ are brothers who took over the business from their parents). We had tried to find someone locally to do the work but since it involved extensive remodeling of the front overhead cabinets, most RV businesses wouldn’t do it.

http://www.customrvint.com/

Unfortunately Dave & LJs do not have hookups for RVs remaining overnight; so we found a great RV park located on the banks of the Columbia River, where we could watch large oceangoing ships transiting to Portland, OR. That meant that every morning we delivered the RV to their facility in the morning and then had to “entertain ourselves” for about eight hours while they worked on the RV. Then we returned around 1530 to retrieve the RV and head back to the RV park. Not the most efficient operation. After our arrival at the RV park Tuesday night we headed to a local burger chain called Burgerville. They are only located in Washington and Oregon and have very good, freshly ground, burgers.

http://www.columbiariverfrontrvpark.com/

http://burgerville.com/

First thing Wednesday morning we delivered the RV to Dave and LJ and took off for parts unknown to kill time. Obviously having Gumbo the one eyed jack complicated things. While driving down a very scenic country road we came across a “water powered” Grist Mill next to a wooden bridge. While Dan was parking the toad Corrie walked right past two older gentlemen and headed inside to view the exhibits. Dan being a little more observant happened to notice a sign that said the Mill was closed and open only on weekends. Turns out the gentlemen were waiting for a private tour that had paid for exclusive use of the Mill. Dan apologized for Corrie and was told not to worry and enjoy the Grist Mill (sometimes timing is everything?).

http://www.cedarcreekgristmill.com/

From the Mill we took one of the scenic drives on the south side of Mount St Helens (remember the big bang in 1980?). Although you cannot see the devastation from the blast on the NW side of the volcano, the drive is still spectacular; with many beautiful lakes and even views of a lahar, and we found time to stop in the very, very, small village of Cougar for lunch.

http://www.fs.fed.us./gpnf/mshnvm/

The next day we again dropped the RV off and then headed to Portland, OR, to kill time. Corrie is not sure how Dan did it, but we ended up in what could be called the “low rent” part of town (ie strip clubs, dive bars, etc). We then proceeded to have a nice walking tour of China town and “old town” Portland. We soon discovered an unique Portland institution – it seems that in a few locations Portland has allowed mobile food trucks/kitchens to permanently park and serve breakfast, lunch and dinner. We had discovered one of four such locations where we found food trucks with Mexican, Thai, Cajun, Austrian, Vietnamese, Chinese, etc, food for purchase. Then we continued to Tom McCall Waterfront Park hoping it was cooler than the average high eighties temperatures we were experiencing. Then it was back to Dave & LJs to pick up the RV and once again head back to the RV park.

Thankfully on Friday morning they wrapped-upped the TV installation and cabinet modifications and we hit the road.

01-13JUL09 - Monroe, WA

Now that we are camp hosts here at the Fairgrounds RV Camp it means one of us should be here at all times (even though there is hardly any business). In spite of being “tied down” we did manage to visit a few of Dan’s relatives. First was an evening get together at cousin Steve Ruttner’s and wife Jainene’s house, along with Steve’s brother (aka another cousin) Rick Lee and wife Sharon. See below BLOG link for previous details. Steve & Jainene have a lovely older home on the side of Queen Anne hill in Seattle with a view of Elliot Bay and the Olympic Mountains to the west. The neighborhood appears very friendly, with people dropping by just to visit (especially if there is an open bottle of wine involved). Steve prepared an excellent build your own burrito buffet and we (mostly Dan, Steve & Rick) reminisced about childhood adventures at Grandma Jean’s & Grandpa Fred’s on Capitol Hill in Seattle, or at the forty acre farm in Redmond.

http://theryanrvexpress.blogspot.com/2009/05/01-14may09-monroe-wa.html

We also found time for dinner with Dan’s Aunt Madeline Harris along with her daughter (aka another cousin), Sheila Morris. See below BLOG link for previous details. Madeline has a beautiful backyard full of flowers, veggies and fruits. In fact, Sheila and Corrie spent sometime picking loads of fresh raspberries. We had a delicious meal prepared by Madeline, and then the reminiscing started. We had brought two old photo albums (they appear to be mid to late 1940s era) from Dan’s sister Sharon’s in Texas, that belonged to Dan’s mom. We spent hours going through the photo albums and many of Madeline’s photos. Eventually Corrie had to kick Dan in the leg to remind him that it was getting late and we still had 45 minute drive home to the RV.

http://theryanrvexpress.blogspot.com/2008/10/13-25sep08-everett-wa-and-dry-lake-red.html

Also during this time period was Fourth of July at the Fairgrounds, and we had a front row seat for the fireworks (as always Gumbo’s favorite). And Dan had a business trip to New Orleans, where he got to spend two evenings with our daughter Rebecca and son-in-law, Raymond.

12-30JUN09 - Monroe, WA

Friday, 12JUN, the Evergreen State Fairgrounds asked us if we would be interested in being Camp Hosts for “awhile”? About a week ago, our friends and previous Camp Hosts, Bob & Karrie, had to return home for medical reasons. When we had learned of this, we had volunteered to fill their duties until a replacement could be found. Apparently it took awhile to make the decision. Anyway, we shifted from our campsite over to the fenced compound that the host gets with full hook-ups. And we get to stay for free, and should be getting a nice refund soon!

Meanwhile back at the property we started to drill for water using a firm called Dahlman. Within 20 feet we hit a muddy trickle of water at 2gpm. We could use this water but it would require an expensive treatment system and a 1000 gallon holding tank. So we went deeper and at 35 feet we hit 40gpm of clear water! The next day they put in the casing and pumping system and ran it for four hours, and all looked great. Unfortunately within two days the well silted in and none of the screening systems they tried could prevent the well from running dry. They continued drilling down to 85 feet, and again the well silted in. Looks like next stop is 200 feet?

One weekend Dan’s cousin Paul had an impromptu get together at his house with his brother John & wife, Michelle, & kids; and youngest brother Jim. It was a beautiful day, with Paul barbequing drunken chicken, hamburgers and hot dogs. Another great day with family.

01-11JUN09 - Monroe, WA

The first two weeks of June has been a continuation of the great weather that started in the middle of May! In fact Seattle missed tying or breaking the number of consecutive days without rain for this time of year by one day. Some of the locals are questioning the area’s “good luck” and wondering if July and August will be constant rain?

Between working on the property and running errands we have stopped by Dan’s cousin Paul a few times for impromptu get togethers, and to borrow some tool or implement we need for the property. During one of our visits Paul “gave” us a free Sears lawn mower/tractor that hadn’t moved in years. After clearing out one of the largest mouse nests ever seen, couple hundred dollars in parts, and freeing up several seized bearings, it will run if you jump the starter straight from the battery. As the saying goes “its worth exactly what you pay for it”.
During one of our errands we drove through the small town of Duvall, where Dan saw another sad casualty of the failed economy. The Duvall Tavern was closed after over 70 years. In the 70s the tavern was a dive bar home to an Iguana kept in a big plastic cage. Even after the lizard’s death, the cage remained with a mural of the Iguana in the cage. Dan didn’t go their often, and it was usually with his brother-in-law, Tim Tompkins. These visits usually resulted in some sort of adventure (ie misadventure); for example Dan’s only bar fight (but that’s another story for another BLOG).

We finally got all the tree limbs and wood debris chipped into mulch, which should last us forever if we had some use for it. Our next project was to pour a concrete floor in the middle of the barn. We decided to do this because the floor of the barn was several inches of fine dust that constantly covered everything. When the concrete truck arrived, Dan advised the driver to walk the long dirt track to the barn because it is not level or dry (ie very easy to get stuck). Next thing Dan knew the driver was blasting through the property straight to the barn. When Dan asked him why he hadn’t checked it out first, the driver said he might not have driven it and we still pay for the concrete even if they don’t pour it! Anyway, all went well and the dust problem is solved.

On 11JUN, the day before the digital TV conversion, Dan decided we should do something to insure we had TV reception after the change over. We had tried twice to get federal coupons for converter boxes, but for some reason the federal government won’t mail coupons to RV’ers that don’t have a “street” address. We had been shopping HDTVs for some time and had settled on 32 inch Vizio at Costco. Even though these TVs were at the store the day before, they were gone when we went back. Dan drove to every Costco within fifty miles, with no luck. We ended up buying a lesser model HDTV, and special ordering the Vizio. Our intentions are to install the Vizio in the main living area of the RV, and the other model in the bedroom. Funny to think in Houma, LA, we had a four bedroom house with two TVs; but soon our small RV will have four TVs!